From the Archive: Clown Fish Pumpkin

This post is a re-post from last Halloween. I entered this Pumpkin into a carving contest. 

It didn't win! Can you believe it?

From this...

To this!

Materials:

• pumpkin, preferably medium sized and fairly round
• cereal boxes or other thin cardboard
• bamboo skewers
• craft glue
• scotch tape
• craft paint: orange, black and white
• permanent black marker
• dark and light blue tissue paper
• white card stock or bristol board

Step one:
Wash and dry the pumpkin. Once it is thoroughly dry, figure out which side is the face. On the opposite side (the tail) draw a circle with black marker. Draw some stripes on each side. Draw two eyes and a mouth, The eyes look best oversized. Then draw a large circle around the entire face.

Step two:
Fill in the black stripes with white paint. Fill in the eyes and the mouth. Two or three coats will be needed. One the eyes are dry, paint in the pupils.

Close up shot of the face

Step three:
While the paint is drying, draw out the shapes for the two sides fins and the tail. I based the size of the fins on the size of the pumpkin. Took a bit of trial and error until I was happy with the shape of the fins.

Make two drawings of each piece (the fins will be double sided). Paint all the pieces orange. When the base layer is dry, outline with black and add black lines, shown in the pictures. You will need one dorsal fin (the top), two side fins, and a tail. In this picture I also made some extra front fins, but I didn't end up using them.

Flip one half of each fin over. Tape bamboo skewers to the plain side. I used three skewers for the tail, and two skewers for each fin. Add some glue and sandwhich the two halves together. Let dry. Some touch ups of the black lines may be needed. The hard part is over! Assembly is easy, just stick the skewers into the flesh of the pumpkin. Touch up any areas as needed.

Side View

Back View

Optional:

To make the reef:
I used a lazy susan as the base, and wrapped it with dark blue tissue paper. Next I freehand drew the shapes of the coral on white card stock. Then outlined the shapes in black marker and cut out carefully with small scissors. Next I taped the coral shapes to the base, leaving gaps for the tail and fins. Next I layered the dark and light blue tissue, alternating the colours to make a "bed". I set the pumpkin on top, and it was ready to go!

Cinderella's Coach Pumpkin

This is an old project, from Halloween 2009-but I thought readers might be interested in another painted pumpkin project. My sister and I worked on this project together. For many hours. This was the first time either of us had decorated a pumpkin.

Materials:

• Pumpkin
• Knife to carve the pumpkin, spoon to clean out the inside
• Pencil, pen, marker
• Acrylic paint-light blue, silver
• Paint brush
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Toy horse
• Satin ribbon ( I used white)
• Doll or Figure ( I used a paper cut out)
• Decorations
• Candle or light (optional)

Step 1: Select the pumpkin. It has to be the right shape and size, preferably well balanced. Unblemished, if possible.

Step 2: Cut a lid into the top of the pumpkin, and scoop out the insides, the same as you would for any jack-o-lantern.

Step 3: Draw a door and windows as desired, and cut those out.
This is up to you, be creative.

Step 4: Paint the entire pumpkin, multiple coats will probably be needed. Once the base coat is dry, you can add details such as the silver veining I added.

Step 5: Once the paint is dry, add any embellishments you desire. I added some white satin ribbon as trim around the door, scrapbooking frames serves and windows. Use hot glue. I also glued feathers around the inside of the lid, and a crystal knob for embellishment. 

Step 6: Assembly. This the hardest part. Unfortunately I don't have photos of the support structure. Basically I found two "spokes" plastic things that looked like spokes and wheels. Painted them silver, and added spokes with black marker. Then I added a "web" of crisscrossed ribbons and sat the pumpkin on top. Lastly, I attached the horse to the wheels with more ribbon. It's hard to explain, and by all means experiment to see what works. It was alot of trial and error to get it sit right.

Lastly, I added a Cinderella paper doll to complete the effect.
If desired, add a candle or light to illuminate the pumpkin.

Happy Carving! 

Clown Fish Pumpkin

From this...

To this!

Materials:

• pumpkin, preferably medium sized and fairly round
• cereal boxes or other thin cardboard
• bamboo skewers
• craft glue
• scotch tape
• craft paint: orange, black and white
• permanent black marker
• dark and light blue tissue paper
• white card stock or bristol board

Step one:
Wash and dry the pumpkin. Once it is thoroughly dry, figure out which side is the face. On the opposite side (the tail) draw a circle with black marker. Draw some stripes on each side. Draw two eyes and a mouth, The eyes look best oversized. Then draw a large circle around the entire face.

Step two:
Fill in the black stripes with white paint. Fill in the eyes and the mouth. Two or three coats will be needed. One the eyes are dry, paint in the pupils.

Close up shot of the face

Step three:
While the paint is drying, draw out the shapes for the two sides fins and the tail. I based the size of the fins on the size of the pumpkin. Took a bit of trial and error until I was happy with the shape of the fins.

Make two drawings of each piece (the fins will be double sided). Paint all the pieces orange. When the base layer is dry, outline with black and add black lines, shown in the pictures. You will need one dorsal fin (the top), two side fins, and a tail. In this picture I also made some extra front fins, but I didn't end up using them.

Flip one half of each fin over. Tape bamboo skewers to the plain side. I used three skewers for the tail, and two skewers for each fin. Add some glue and sandwhich the two halves together. Let dry. Some touch ups of the black lines may be needed. The hard part is over! Assembly is easy, just stick the skewers into the flesh of the pumpkin. Touch up any areas as needed.

Side View

Back View

Optional:

To make the reef:
I used a lazy susan as the base, and wrapped it with dark blue tissue paper. Next I freehand drew the shapes of the coral on white card stock. Then outlined the shapes in black marker and cut out carefully with small scissors. Next I taped the coral shapes to the base, leaving gaps for the tail and fins. Next I layered the dark and light blue tissue, alternating the colours to make a "bed". I set the pumpkin on top, and it was ready to go!

Pumpkin Coach

I made this coach for a pumpkin carving contest. Proceeds were donated to the United Way (it cost $5 to enter the contest). I won second place. Here's how I made it.

Supplies:

• 1 pumpkin, as round as possible
• a pen or marker to draw on the pumpkin
  
• knife and tools to clean and carve the pumpkin
  
• a toy horse (this one is a Bratz Dolls horse)
• craft paint ( blue and metallic silver)
• paint brush
  
• ribbon
• 2 small photo frames for windows
• craft feathers
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
  
• crystal paperweight (turned upside down)
• spokes and wheels (I used plastic parts that are used for store displays)
• Optional: Princess Doll
• Optional: light source (candle, small flashlight, flameless candle, etc)
  

Step one: Turn the pumpkin upside down. Draw the shapes of a lid, two windows and a door. I made the door oval, but it can be any shape you like. I used the frames as guides for the shape of the window, I traced around the frame opening. When you are happy with the layout, carve out a lid and hollow out the pumpkin. Carve out the windows and door.

Step two:
Paint the pumpkin, including the lid. Acrylic craft paint works, but spray paint is faster. Multiple coats may be needed. I added some metallic silver paint along the ridges of the pumpkin as higlights.

Step three: Hot glue the feathers to the underside of the lid. Hot glue the small frames to the windows. I outlined the door with white ribbon trim and added a small scrapbooking doodad to the top of the door. The crystal I used for the top of the coach had a pointed bit on the top, so I turned it upside down and carved a little hole to sit it into. I hot glued it into place.

Step four: Make some wheels. This is the trickiest part of the whole project-how to get the pumpkin to sit on the wheels. I don't have a picture of the construction, but I made a sort of webbing with ribbon. I tied ribbons around the spokes of the wheels to form a sort of basket for the pumpkin to sit on. It took quite a bit of fiddling and trial and error to get it right. You could also use the wheels meant for toy cars- hobby stores usually have them. Empty spools of thread and wooden dowels might also work. The pieces I used are black pastic. I painted them silver, you can see from the picture the paint didn't quite stick. I then drew the spokes on the wheels with a black marker.

Step five:
Attach the horse. I used some white ribbon, and simply attached one end to the saddle that came with the toy, and the other end to the spokes of the wheels.

If I was going to make this project again, I would buy the horse first. As you can see, the scale is totally wrong. That horse is a giant! I would also buy some model car wheels that I could poke into the pumpkin itself. The ribbon contraption worked, but it required alot of fiddling and didn't look as nice as I wanted.

But all in all, it worked out quite well.